Teen Wolf: Hideaway Episode 5
"Deception"
Sprinting like there’s no tomorrow, a creature ran through the forests of Beacon Hills. It was directionless, running all over the place with no destination in mind, but it still managed to avoid the trees. It ran faster than a human being, almost like an animal, but still it ran on two legs only. It leapt over puddles, and the wind was no hurdle. It didn’t stop, until it reached the lookout - the top of a large cliff, overlooking the town. It stopped and took in its surroundings, gasping for breath, while its eyes glowed a deep yellow. Dressed casually in jeans and a red zip-up jacket, it took its phone out of its pocket. 6:47 am. As the phone locked, it caught a glimpse of itself. Staring back, Nolan Holloway saw his new look; fangs and claws joined the yellow eyes, but more than anything, he didn’t know his own strength, and that made his thirst for blood even more dangerous...
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Also starring Linden Ashby, Melissa Ponzio, JR Bourne, Orny Adams, Ryan Kelley, Aramis Knight, Richard Harmon and Nargis Fakhri.
Morning had broken, and Scott rose from his deep sleep as the piercing sound of his alarm clock rang through his eardrums. To his right, Maddie slowly opened her eyes.
“Morning” she smiled.
“Hey, how are you?” Scott responded, caressing her cheek.
“I’m good. Would be better if Liam got off my foot” Maddie casually replied. Scott was startled, as he looked to the end of his bed and saw Liam fast asleep. Well, that was until Maddie kicked him and Liam jumped up, as if he’d received an electric shock.
“What happened?” Liam was confused, but gathered his surroundings.
“What’s he doing here?” Scott asked Maddie, confused.
“He didn’t want to go home last night, too worried about Nolan. I said he could sleep at the end of your bed” Maddie explained.
“Thanks a bunch” Scott seemed unimpressed but he shrugged it off. Suddenly, the penny dropped, “Nolan!” he shouted and sprinted down the stairs.
Dazed and weary, Malia was also waking up. Her back ached, as she’d had to sleep on the uncomfortable floor of the Eichen House cellar, which was as hard as a rock. Behind her, she heard a groaning sound. She turned around, alarmed, to see Isaac still awake, and still in pain. The purple glow of the gunshot wound was strong, and there was no sign of it healing. Maddie had used Isaac as a pillow, and although she tried her best to stay awake and tend to him, she couldn’t help drifting off.
“Have you slept at all?” Malia asked him.
“10 minutes here and there. What time is it?” Isaac asked, struggling to speak.
“Err, half 9” Malia said, looking at her phone, “How’s the pain?”
“Take a wild guess” Isaac responded. Malia sighed, praying for a miracle and that one of the pack would arrive in time to help Isaac.
To his horror, Scott didn’t see Nolan when he arrived at his living room. When he last saw Nolan, he was asleep on the sofa, but now there wasn’t a trace.
“Where’s he gone?” Liam asked, panicked.
“He can’t have gone far, let’s have a scout around” Maddie tried to calm him down.
“He’s a werewolf now, he could run across the whole of Beacon Hills in the space of a few minutes, I think it goes beyond a quick stroll up and down the road” Liam was becoming stressed out.
“I’ll just ask my mom, she came in late so he might have said something to her” Scott decided, and headed upstairs to Melissa’s bedroom. He knocked three times on the door, but had no response.
“Mom?” he called out, thinking she may not have heard him. He got no response again, and the silence was deafening. Scott opted to open the door, and have a peek inside. To his horror, there was no sign of Melissa, and her bed looked like it hadn’t been slept in. Scott ran downstairs.
“Mom’s not here” Scott exclaimed, in a state of panic.
“Maybe she went out?” Maddie tried to keep calm and think rationally.
“She always leaves a note or sends me a text so I know where she is” Scott responded. Bursting through the door, Stiles and Lydia arrived, and wasted no time in passing on some news.
“Call from my dad, there’s an incident at the hospital” Stiles announced. Scott’s face filled with dread, as he realised Melissa was almost certainly caught up in it.
Phone calls were made and a plan set into motion. Scott wasted no time in heading to the hospital with Stiles in tow. Malia and Isaac were nowhere to be seen, so Lydia and Maddie went to check around for them. Meanwhile, Liam called up Casey to track down Nolan. The pack used their strengths to cover all bases, but the unknown of the hospital threat terrified Scott. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew he’d do anything to save his mum.
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Scott complained. He was talking about Stiles’ jeep, which was already driving above the speed limit on the way to the hospital.
“Hey, I’m going pretty fast already, don’t doubt the jeep” Stiles responded, trying to keep Scott calm.
“Sorry, I’m so scared” Scott opened up.
“It’s alright buddy, I know what you mean. If someone told me my dad might be...you know” he froze, unsure of the right words to use. Ultimately, he decided to move straight on, “...I’d be pretty terrified.”
“I’ve got enough going on though, Thomas isn’t who he says he is, Nolan’s gone walkabouts, I thought it’d be smooth, we’ve helped Liam cope, surely this should’ve been easier?” Scott spoke frantically, barely stopping for breath.
“It was always gonna be a struggle with Nolan, you knew that” Stiles corrected him, “He’s troubled. Just remember though, he has so many people who can help him out. Heck, even me. I guess I’m not so bad.”
“What do you mean? You’re great dude” Scott raised a smile. Stiles was reflecting on Hayden and what she’d confessed to him. He wanted to tell Scott so badly, and keeping it secret was slowly eating away at him, but it wasn’t the time or the place.
“Haven’t you phoned for help?” Isaac queried, still struggling to speak.
“No, it didn’t occur to me” Malia sarcastically replied, “Conveniently, my phone ran out of battery, and you fell on yours.”
“Wait, it’s broken? Today just gets better and better” Isaac was visibly annoyed about his phone.
“Get shot with wolfsbane, fine, not a problem, but a damaged phone?” Malia was stressed, and was taking it out on Isaac.
“Alright, no need to bite my head off” Isaac retaliated.
“Sorry” Malia calmed down, “I trust in Scott, but he’s taking his goddamn time.”
“Maybe we need to send him a signal?” Isaac suggested.
Arriving at Argent’s house on the lookout for Isaac, Lydia and Maddie stepped out of the car. To their surprise, the front door was wide open, but not a person in sight. Argent’s warm and cosy apartment was no longer the beacon of comfort that Maddie thought. It was cold, and spine-tingling, as she stepped through the front door.
“Argent?” Lydia called out. No response.
“Isaac? Thomas? Anyone home?” Maddie added. Still no response. Until, that was, they heard a noise coming from the cellar. Maddie and Lydia shared a glance, worried about what they might find, but they knew they had to go down there. What if Isaac were in trouble? What if Coleman had come for Thomas? All kinds of possibilities were running through their minds. Maddie bravely led the way, with Lydia bringing up the rear. Not hedging her bets, Maddie prepared her claws, ready to fight. She opened the creaky door, and proceeded down the stairs. Step by step, she descended into the dark cellar. The noise just got louder and louder, like someone was struggling. As soon as they reached the bottom, still in darkness, Lydia hit the light switch. To their surprise, they didn’t see Thomas or Isaac, but it was in fact Argent, tied to a chair all alone with a rope gagging his mouth. Maddie wasted no time in using her claws to cut through the ropes.
“You alright?” Maddie asked. Argent nodded, getting himself together.
“Who did this?” Lydia wasted no time, knowing they were under threat.
“Thomas. He did it” Argent revealed, much to Maddie and Lydia’s horror.
Trawling the woods, Liam was getting frustrated. He was petrified thinking about what might have happened to Nolan overnight, and he could be anywhere by now.
“This is hopeless” he sighed.
“No it’s not, we’re doing everything we can. Don’t lose his scent” Casey was keeping him calm and focused.
“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything to Scott. Nolan would still be fine and normal” Liam was venting his frustrations.
“Normal? Was he normal in the first place? Were any of us normal in the first place?” Casey replied, reflecting.
“I guess we all had our problems” Liam reminisced on his life before the bite. The duo approached the lookout point, admiring the bird’s eye view of the town they call home.
“Can you smell that?” Casey asked Liam, changing the subject.
“Yeah, he was here” Liam perked up with a ray of hope, “And he left this.” He picked up Nolan’s cracked phone. Sitting on the large rock that served as a bench, Liam looked at Nolan’s lock screen. It was a photo of him in his lacrosse gear.
“He likes his lacrosse” Casey commented, trying to make conversation with the clearly downtrodden Liam.
“He wanted to be the captain. He looked up to me. And I let him down” Liam slammed the phone down on the floor and continued the search. Casey picked the phone back up, knowing it might be useful, before following Liam, not wanting to let him out of sight.
Before Stiles had a chance to turn the engine of his jeep off, Scott was out of the car. He didn’t waste a single second in rushing into the hospital, but he was stopped in his tracks as two figures stood blocking the entrance. Two humanoid strangers, neither familiar to Scott. Both were complete with fangs and claws. Scott transformed in a flash, his teeth became sharp fans and his fingers now had claws. He wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way. His deep red eyes shot fear into the two creatures. All it took was a large push from Scott with all of the strength he’s accumulated as an alpha to knock both of them out, much like a pair of dominos. Stiles followed behind, armed with a baseball bat.
“I thought you got rid of that?” Scott asked, unfazed by what just happened.
“The golden rule of being the sidekick: always have a spare” Stiles waved it in the air, playing around. To the duo’s surprise, one of the creatures was still awake, and it began to get up. Bash! Its attempt was stifled by a thump from Stiles’ baseball bat. Scott gave a nod of approval, and they rushed into the hospital. As they walked through the main entrance, the first thing they noticed was the pitch black view.
“Someone forgot to put 50p in the metre” Stiles joked.
“It’s controlled in the generator room, can you get to it? Use your phone torch” Scott ordered.
“On it” Stiles rushed off, with his baseball bat in one hand and phone in the other. Scott continued to make his way through the hospital. There was no sign of anyone, although he was horrified to notice the sight of blood on the wall opposite the reception desk where Melissa worked. Standing out like a sore thumb, Scott noticed Melissa’s jacket placed neatly on the back of her chair. He picked it up and took a sniff, familiarising himself with her scent. Following his nose, Scott made his way round the corner to the left, and kept on going down the long and winding corridor. Taking it slowly and quietly, Scott peeped in each room as he walked by, but each one was empty – no sign of any patients or staff alike.
“Scott!” came a voice from ahead. Scott recognised it instantly, and headed to the next room. Hiding inside were a group of the hospital’s staff, including Melissa.
“Mom!” Scott replied, overjoyed to see she was still alive, “I’m gonna get you out of here, I promise.”
“He’s killing them all, Scott. The patients, the doctors, the nurses, anyone. It’s only a matter of time until he finds us” Melissa was worried. Scott was concerned, knowing his mum was usually strong and brave.
“Who is?” Scott queried, trying to find out more information.
“I don’t know his name, I’ve never seen him before, but I recognised his friend from a mile away” Melissa explained, “It was Thomas.” Scott was taken aback, as a rush of terror came over his body.
Along the roadside, Casey and Liam were making their way back towards the centre of town. Nolan was nowhere to be seen in the woods, and they were running out of ideas.
“Wait, you were an alpha. You must have bitten people before. How did you deal with it?” Liam queried.
“I never bit anyone, I was too scared of the outcome. Guess I’m more of a chicken than a wolf” Casey’s mind was flooded with bad memories of his time as an alpha.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. You’re not a chicken, you’re one of the bravest people I know” Liam kindly said.
“It’s alright. I can’t even get myself to ask a guy out, I’d never have made a good alpha” Casey continued.
“Thomas? Isn’t he…?” Liam didn’t finish his sentence, but Casey nodded.
“He’s not who he says he is” Casey finished, “Sorry, you don’t need to hear me sulk.”
“No, it’s fine. Not like my love life is much better” Liam reflected too, thinking about Hayden.
“What are you gonna do to win her back?” Casey questioned.
“Stiles said I need to do something to prove how much I care for her, but I’m not imaginative enough, I’ve got no ideas” Liam confessed.
“Alright, so a plan of action. We find Nolan, then I’ll help you win Hayden back” Casey smiled. A spark appeared in Liam’s eye.
“Thanks” he smiled back.
“Hey, it’s Scott, I can’t answer your call right now but leave a message” Scott’s answerphone rang out, much to Maddie’s frustration.
“Hi, this is Stiles’ phone, I can’t speak to you now but leave a message if you really want to” Lydia had similar emotions when she heard Stiles’ answerphone. Both were frantically trying to get in touch with Scott and Stiles, to let them know about Thomas, but it seemed both were too preoccupied.
“Scott can take care of himself” Argent warned them both.
“So what do we do? We can’t just sit around like lemons” Lydia replied, stressed.
“He asked you to look for Isaac and Malia, so go find them. I’ll give him some back-up at the hospital” Argent primed his gun as he spoke.
Isaac continued to lose blood, with a puddle now sitting to his left as the gunshot wound still wasn’t healing. Malia had worked through her pack of tissues trying to clean the wound, but it was to no avail. Isaac was drifting in and out of consciousness, and Malia was starting to lose hope.
“Malia, you need to know” Isaac spoke, struggling even more than before.
“Save your breath, you’re gonna need it” Malia replied, supporting him.
“I need to say” Isaac ignored her and continued to speak, “I love you.”
“I love you too” Malia was surprised at herself and how attached she’d become to Isaac. She wasn’t used to this, but it gave her a warm feeling deep down inside. That warm feeling quickly turned cold, however, as she remembered the situation she and Isaac were in.
“You need to carry out the plan” Isaac ordered her. Malia was hesitant, but she ultimately obeyed. Her eyes turned a deep shade of blue and she transformed into here werecoyote form. In an instant, she let out a rapturous roar. She prayed that one of the pack would hear it, but her reluctance didn’t leave her mind, fearing whoever locked them in may return and make things worse…
Scott’s heartbeat jumped as the sound of his phone made a scarily loud noise amongst the quiet of the hospital room. It was Stiles.
“Hey, have you found the generator room?” Scott asked, whispering.
“Yeah, I’m there, but I need a password. Could you ask your mom?” Stiles queried.
“Mom, what’s your password?” Scott called to Melissa, still being as quiet as possible.
“It’s scott13” Melissa replied.
“Really?” Scott paused for a second, ashamed by his mother’s password.
“It’s all I could think of” Melissa laughed.
“Stiles, it’s scott13, no space, all lowercase” Scott explained down the phone.
“Got it. Give me two minutes. Are we gonna get everyone out?” Stiles wondered.
“Yeah, I’m hoping the lights being on will be a distraction. Then I’ll hit the fire alarm and everyone can escape” Scott revealed.
“There’s a lot that could go wrong with that” Stiles reminded.
“I know, but we’ve got to try” Scott said, before hanging up the phone. Stiles got to work, typing away at lightning speed on the computer to find the controls for the lights.
“Me again” Lydia poked her head around the door of Stilinski’s office.
“I hope you’re not asking me to break the law again” Stilinski retorted.
“No, it’s serious, I promise. Malia and Isaac have vanished and we think they’re in trouble. Can you track their phones?” Maddie queried.
“Parrish!” Stilinski called out. Parrish popped his head in, waiting for orders, “Can you see to these lovely ladies’ request please?”
“Yes Sheriff” Parrish responded. Lydia and Maddie stood either side of Parrish at his desk. Maddie read out Isaac’s phone number, while Parrish typed it in.
“He called Chris Argent late last night but there’s been no signal since, must be out of battery. Oh gosh, you’re not gonna want to hear where the call was made from” Parrish revealed.
“Tell us, or you’ll feel the sharp edge of my claws on your beautifully chiselled face” Maddie threatened.
“It was made just outside Eichen House” Parrish revealed, with fear in his voice.
“Right, let’s go” Lydia replied. She wasn’t happy about having to return to Eichen, but she’d stop at nothing to save her friends.
“Wait, I’m coming too” Parrish interrupted, “That place is a death trap.”
Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Scott and Melissa waited patiently with the other doctors and nurses. He listened to their heartbeats, and each one was pumping like hard. Even his own heart was beating faster than normal. It was partly adrenaline, he guessed, but he knew he was nervous too. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. Patrolling the outdoor corridor, they slowly crept towards the room. Scott held his finger to his lips, signalling to the others to be as silent as possible. A pin drop could be heard within the room, but when wolf-hearing was involved, the sound of breathing could not be disguised. A shadowed figure appeared at the doorway. The doctors and nurses were petrified, but Scott stood up. His heart began beating faster and faster, as the shadowed figure opened the door. Melissa situated herself in front of the other staff members, protecting them. Scott prepared to fight, but as the door opened fully, he was relieved to see Thomas.
“What are you doing here?” Scott whispered harshly.
“Come on, I’m getting you out” Thomas responded. Scott didn’t think twice, totally forgetting any of his suspicions of Thomas. Scott led the way out of the hospital, and Thomas brought up the rear. As they were on the move, the lights flickered on. Scott smiled, as he knew Stiles had succeeded, and he activated the fire alarm.
Feeling proud of himself, Stiles did a little jump for joy. Momentarily, he’d forgotten the danger of the hospital, and failed to notice a stranger sneaking out the door. However, his attention was alerted when the door clicked shut. Rapidly, Stiles jumped to action, opening the door and checking down the corridor. He saw a figure turn a corner several metres away, much further than any human could’ve run in that period of time. He followed in the same direction, realising it led him to a set of stairs meant only for staff members. Up he went, following the long and tiresome staircase all the way up to the roof. Panting for breath, he reached the top, and heaved open a heavy door that led onto the roof balcony. Facing away from Stiles, a scruffy, tattered figure looked over the town.
“Hello?” Stiles called out. He got no response, and slowly inched closer, “Look, whatever you are, I’ve got some friends who can help.”
“Scott McCall” came a deep voice. It didn’t sound even slightly human, and Stiles was terrified. It turned around, and showed a horribly mutated half-man half-wolf face, with fangs and fur covering it with little symmetry or coherence in its layout.
“Thomas told me he’s here. Take me to him” he continued.
“Thomas...” Stiles thought aloud, “You’re him. You’re Coleman!”
“Careful Stiles, the longer you delay, the less time you’ll have to help the rest of your friends. The ones stuck in Eichen House, the ones on the ground below having escaped” Coleman threatened. Stiles was torn, unsure of what to do, but he was scared either way.
Liam and Casey jogged onto the lacrosse pitch. Crouched into a ball in the centre, just as Liam had expected, was Nolan.
“Nolan!” Liam called out, “We’re here to help.”
“Liam, please do something. I can’t take it” Nolan replied. Liam and Casey perched either side of Nolan, who looked up. His eyes were bright yellow, and his fangs were out.
“I can’t stop shifting, my mind is running all over the place. Please help me” Nolan pleaded with them.
“It’s alright, we’ve got you” Casey helped pick him up. Nolan had one arm over Casey’s shoulders, and assisted him to walk away from the middle of the empty field.
“Liam!” came a loud voice shouting from afar. Liam spun around, and saw Coach yelling towards him, “Why haven’t you been at practice?”
“Sorry Coach, got bigger fish to fry. Looking after my teammates” Liam shouted back. He was pleased to have found Nolan, but now the hard work began – teaching Nolan control.
Creeping into the deserted Eichen House, Lydia, Maddie and Parrish were on red alert for potential attacks. All of a sudden, the group heard a loud ear-piercing roar.
“Malia” Maddie identified, “Coming from downstairs.” They wasted no time in following the sound, and headed downstairs in a hurry. Their motivation ground to a halt however, as they reached a locked door.
“Stand back” Lydia warned, as she let rip an almighty scream, weakening the door for Parrish to kick it down in an instant. In sight now were Malia and an unconscious Isaac. From one barrier to another, however, as Maddie ran slap bang into a mountain ash wall.
“Ow!” she exclaimed, having landed on her backside with a harsh bump. Lydia gave her a hand up, before she glanced over to a despaired Malia. Her eyes alone expressed how fearful for Isaac she was.
“This is my area” Parrish stepped in, as he glowed a fiery red and his clothes burned off his body. Using his intense heat, he pushed against the barrier as if it were a heavy piece of furniture, and managed to destroy it, creating an exit at last. Maddie and Lydia rushed to Isaac’s side, helping him up between them.
“What happened?” Lydia asked Malia.
“Wolfsbane bullet. No idea who locked us here but we came to check it out after the reports of a break in” Malia explained.
“Think it was Thomas?” Maddie added.
“Isn’t he with Argent?” Malia was shocked. However, the explanations came to a halt as they reached the top of the long and exhausting cellar stairs.
“Not so fast” an unfamiliar voice at the top of the stairs threatened. It was a woman in her late 20s, with long auburn wavy hair, holding a gun at the group.
“Who are you?” Parrish asked, wielding his gun back at her.
“Someone who’s doing her duty” she replied, as she fired the gun once again.
“Morning” she smiled.
“Hey, how are you?” Scott responded, caressing her cheek.
“I’m good. Would be better if Liam got off my foot” Maddie casually replied. Scott was startled, as he looked to the end of his bed and saw Liam fast asleep. Well, that was until Maddie kicked him and Liam jumped up, as if he’d received an electric shock.
“What happened?” Liam was confused, but gathered his surroundings.
“What’s he doing here?” Scott asked Maddie, confused.
“He didn’t want to go home last night, too worried about Nolan. I said he could sleep at the end of your bed” Maddie explained.
“Thanks a bunch” Scott seemed unimpressed but he shrugged it off. Suddenly, the penny dropped, “Nolan!” he shouted and sprinted down the stairs.
Dazed and weary, Malia was also waking up. Her back ached, as she’d had to sleep on the uncomfortable floor of the Eichen House cellar, which was as hard as a rock. Behind her, she heard a groaning sound. She turned around, alarmed, to see Isaac still awake, and still in pain. The purple glow of the gunshot wound was strong, and there was no sign of it healing. Maddie had used Isaac as a pillow, and although she tried her best to stay awake and tend to him, she couldn’t help drifting off.
“Have you slept at all?” Malia asked him.
“10 minutes here and there. What time is it?” Isaac asked, struggling to speak.
“Err, half 9” Malia said, looking at her phone, “How’s the pain?”
“Take a wild guess” Isaac responded. Malia sighed, praying for a miracle and that one of the pack would arrive in time to help Isaac.
To his horror, Scott didn’t see Nolan when he arrived at his living room. When he last saw Nolan, he was asleep on the sofa, but now there wasn’t a trace.
“Where’s he gone?” Liam asked, panicked.
“He can’t have gone far, let’s have a scout around” Maddie tried to calm him down.
“He’s a werewolf now, he could run across the whole of Beacon Hills in the space of a few minutes, I think it goes beyond a quick stroll up and down the road” Liam was becoming stressed out.
“I’ll just ask my mom, she came in late so he might have said something to her” Scott decided, and headed upstairs to Melissa’s bedroom. He knocked three times on the door, but had no response.
“Mom?” he called out, thinking she may not have heard him. He got no response again, and the silence was deafening. Scott opted to open the door, and have a peek inside. To his horror, there was no sign of Melissa, and her bed looked like it hadn’t been slept in. Scott ran downstairs.
“Mom’s not here” Scott exclaimed, in a state of panic.
“Maybe she went out?” Maddie tried to keep calm and think rationally.
“She always leaves a note or sends me a text so I know where she is” Scott responded. Bursting through the door, Stiles and Lydia arrived, and wasted no time in passing on some news.
“Call from my dad, there’s an incident at the hospital” Stiles announced. Scott’s face filled with dread, as he realised Melissa was almost certainly caught up in it.
Phone calls were made and a plan set into motion. Scott wasted no time in heading to the hospital with Stiles in tow. Malia and Isaac were nowhere to be seen, so Lydia and Maddie went to check around for them. Meanwhile, Liam called up Casey to track down Nolan. The pack used their strengths to cover all bases, but the unknown of the hospital threat terrified Scott. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew he’d do anything to save his mum.
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Scott complained. He was talking about Stiles’ jeep, which was already driving above the speed limit on the way to the hospital.
“Hey, I’m going pretty fast already, don’t doubt the jeep” Stiles responded, trying to keep Scott calm.
“Sorry, I’m so scared” Scott opened up.
“It’s alright buddy, I know what you mean. If someone told me my dad might be...you know” he froze, unsure of the right words to use. Ultimately, he decided to move straight on, “...I’d be pretty terrified.”
“I’ve got enough going on though, Thomas isn’t who he says he is, Nolan’s gone walkabouts, I thought it’d be smooth, we’ve helped Liam cope, surely this should’ve been easier?” Scott spoke frantically, barely stopping for breath.
“It was always gonna be a struggle with Nolan, you knew that” Stiles corrected him, “He’s troubled. Just remember though, he has so many people who can help him out. Heck, even me. I guess I’m not so bad.”
“What do you mean? You’re great dude” Scott raised a smile. Stiles was reflecting on Hayden and what she’d confessed to him. He wanted to tell Scott so badly, and keeping it secret was slowly eating away at him, but it wasn’t the time or the place.
“Haven’t you phoned for help?” Isaac queried, still struggling to speak.
“No, it didn’t occur to me” Malia sarcastically replied, “Conveniently, my phone ran out of battery, and you fell on yours.”
“Wait, it’s broken? Today just gets better and better” Isaac was visibly annoyed about his phone.
“Get shot with wolfsbane, fine, not a problem, but a damaged phone?” Malia was stressed, and was taking it out on Isaac.
“Alright, no need to bite my head off” Isaac retaliated.
“Sorry” Malia calmed down, “I trust in Scott, but he’s taking his goddamn time.”
“Maybe we need to send him a signal?” Isaac suggested.
Arriving at Argent’s house on the lookout for Isaac, Lydia and Maddie stepped out of the car. To their surprise, the front door was wide open, but not a person in sight. Argent’s warm and cosy apartment was no longer the beacon of comfort that Maddie thought. It was cold, and spine-tingling, as she stepped through the front door.
“Argent?” Lydia called out. No response.
“Isaac? Thomas? Anyone home?” Maddie added. Still no response. Until, that was, they heard a noise coming from the cellar. Maddie and Lydia shared a glance, worried about what they might find, but they knew they had to go down there. What if Isaac were in trouble? What if Coleman had come for Thomas? All kinds of possibilities were running through their minds. Maddie bravely led the way, with Lydia bringing up the rear. Not hedging her bets, Maddie prepared her claws, ready to fight. She opened the creaky door, and proceeded down the stairs. Step by step, she descended into the dark cellar. The noise just got louder and louder, like someone was struggling. As soon as they reached the bottom, still in darkness, Lydia hit the light switch. To their surprise, they didn’t see Thomas or Isaac, but it was in fact Argent, tied to a chair all alone with a rope gagging his mouth. Maddie wasted no time in using her claws to cut through the ropes.
“You alright?” Maddie asked. Argent nodded, getting himself together.
“Who did this?” Lydia wasted no time, knowing they were under threat.
“Thomas. He did it” Argent revealed, much to Maddie and Lydia’s horror.
Trawling the woods, Liam was getting frustrated. He was petrified thinking about what might have happened to Nolan overnight, and he could be anywhere by now.
“This is hopeless” he sighed.
“No it’s not, we’re doing everything we can. Don’t lose his scent” Casey was keeping him calm and focused.
“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything to Scott. Nolan would still be fine and normal” Liam was venting his frustrations.
“Normal? Was he normal in the first place? Were any of us normal in the first place?” Casey replied, reflecting.
“I guess we all had our problems” Liam reminisced on his life before the bite. The duo approached the lookout point, admiring the bird’s eye view of the town they call home.
“Can you smell that?” Casey asked Liam, changing the subject.
“Yeah, he was here” Liam perked up with a ray of hope, “And he left this.” He picked up Nolan’s cracked phone. Sitting on the large rock that served as a bench, Liam looked at Nolan’s lock screen. It was a photo of him in his lacrosse gear.
“He likes his lacrosse” Casey commented, trying to make conversation with the clearly downtrodden Liam.
“He wanted to be the captain. He looked up to me. And I let him down” Liam slammed the phone down on the floor and continued the search. Casey picked the phone back up, knowing it might be useful, before following Liam, not wanting to let him out of sight.
Before Stiles had a chance to turn the engine of his jeep off, Scott was out of the car. He didn’t waste a single second in rushing into the hospital, but he was stopped in his tracks as two figures stood blocking the entrance. Two humanoid strangers, neither familiar to Scott. Both were complete with fangs and claws. Scott transformed in a flash, his teeth became sharp fans and his fingers now had claws. He wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way. His deep red eyes shot fear into the two creatures. All it took was a large push from Scott with all of the strength he’s accumulated as an alpha to knock both of them out, much like a pair of dominos. Stiles followed behind, armed with a baseball bat.
“I thought you got rid of that?” Scott asked, unfazed by what just happened.
“The golden rule of being the sidekick: always have a spare” Stiles waved it in the air, playing around. To the duo’s surprise, one of the creatures was still awake, and it began to get up. Bash! Its attempt was stifled by a thump from Stiles’ baseball bat. Scott gave a nod of approval, and they rushed into the hospital. As they walked through the main entrance, the first thing they noticed was the pitch black view.
“Someone forgot to put 50p in the metre” Stiles joked.
“It’s controlled in the generator room, can you get to it? Use your phone torch” Scott ordered.
“On it” Stiles rushed off, with his baseball bat in one hand and phone in the other. Scott continued to make his way through the hospital. There was no sign of anyone, although he was horrified to notice the sight of blood on the wall opposite the reception desk where Melissa worked. Standing out like a sore thumb, Scott noticed Melissa’s jacket placed neatly on the back of her chair. He picked it up and took a sniff, familiarising himself with her scent. Following his nose, Scott made his way round the corner to the left, and kept on going down the long and winding corridor. Taking it slowly and quietly, Scott peeped in each room as he walked by, but each one was empty – no sign of any patients or staff alike.
“Scott!” came a voice from ahead. Scott recognised it instantly, and headed to the next room. Hiding inside were a group of the hospital’s staff, including Melissa.
“Mom!” Scott replied, overjoyed to see she was still alive, “I’m gonna get you out of here, I promise.”
“He’s killing them all, Scott. The patients, the doctors, the nurses, anyone. It’s only a matter of time until he finds us” Melissa was worried. Scott was concerned, knowing his mum was usually strong and brave.
“Who is?” Scott queried, trying to find out more information.
“I don’t know his name, I’ve never seen him before, but I recognised his friend from a mile away” Melissa explained, “It was Thomas.” Scott was taken aback, as a rush of terror came over his body.
Along the roadside, Casey and Liam were making their way back towards the centre of town. Nolan was nowhere to be seen in the woods, and they were running out of ideas.
“Wait, you were an alpha. You must have bitten people before. How did you deal with it?” Liam queried.
“I never bit anyone, I was too scared of the outcome. Guess I’m more of a chicken than a wolf” Casey’s mind was flooded with bad memories of his time as an alpha.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. You’re not a chicken, you’re one of the bravest people I know” Liam kindly said.
“It’s alright. I can’t even get myself to ask a guy out, I’d never have made a good alpha” Casey continued.
“Thomas? Isn’t he…?” Liam didn’t finish his sentence, but Casey nodded.
“He’s not who he says he is” Casey finished, “Sorry, you don’t need to hear me sulk.”
“No, it’s fine. Not like my love life is much better” Liam reflected too, thinking about Hayden.
“What are you gonna do to win her back?” Casey questioned.
“Stiles said I need to do something to prove how much I care for her, but I’m not imaginative enough, I’ve got no ideas” Liam confessed.
“Alright, so a plan of action. We find Nolan, then I’ll help you win Hayden back” Casey smiled. A spark appeared in Liam’s eye.
“Thanks” he smiled back.
“Hey, it’s Scott, I can’t answer your call right now but leave a message” Scott’s answerphone rang out, much to Maddie’s frustration.
“Hi, this is Stiles’ phone, I can’t speak to you now but leave a message if you really want to” Lydia had similar emotions when she heard Stiles’ answerphone. Both were frantically trying to get in touch with Scott and Stiles, to let them know about Thomas, but it seemed both were too preoccupied.
“Scott can take care of himself” Argent warned them both.
“So what do we do? We can’t just sit around like lemons” Lydia replied, stressed.
“He asked you to look for Isaac and Malia, so go find them. I’ll give him some back-up at the hospital” Argent primed his gun as he spoke.
Isaac continued to lose blood, with a puddle now sitting to his left as the gunshot wound still wasn’t healing. Malia had worked through her pack of tissues trying to clean the wound, but it was to no avail. Isaac was drifting in and out of consciousness, and Malia was starting to lose hope.
“Malia, you need to know” Isaac spoke, struggling even more than before.
“Save your breath, you’re gonna need it” Malia replied, supporting him.
“I need to say” Isaac ignored her and continued to speak, “I love you.”
“I love you too” Malia was surprised at herself and how attached she’d become to Isaac. She wasn’t used to this, but it gave her a warm feeling deep down inside. That warm feeling quickly turned cold, however, as she remembered the situation she and Isaac were in.
“You need to carry out the plan” Isaac ordered her. Malia was hesitant, but she ultimately obeyed. Her eyes turned a deep shade of blue and she transformed into here werecoyote form. In an instant, she let out a rapturous roar. She prayed that one of the pack would hear it, but her reluctance didn’t leave her mind, fearing whoever locked them in may return and make things worse…
Scott’s heartbeat jumped as the sound of his phone made a scarily loud noise amongst the quiet of the hospital room. It was Stiles.
“Hey, have you found the generator room?” Scott asked, whispering.
“Yeah, I’m there, but I need a password. Could you ask your mom?” Stiles queried.
“Mom, what’s your password?” Scott called to Melissa, still being as quiet as possible.
“It’s scott13” Melissa replied.
“Really?” Scott paused for a second, ashamed by his mother’s password.
“It’s all I could think of” Melissa laughed.
“Stiles, it’s scott13, no space, all lowercase” Scott explained down the phone.
“Got it. Give me two minutes. Are we gonna get everyone out?” Stiles wondered.
“Yeah, I’m hoping the lights being on will be a distraction. Then I’ll hit the fire alarm and everyone can escape” Scott revealed.
“There’s a lot that could go wrong with that” Stiles reminded.
“I know, but we’ve got to try” Scott said, before hanging up the phone. Stiles got to work, typing away at lightning speed on the computer to find the controls for the lights.
“Me again” Lydia poked her head around the door of Stilinski’s office.
“I hope you’re not asking me to break the law again” Stilinski retorted.
“No, it’s serious, I promise. Malia and Isaac have vanished and we think they’re in trouble. Can you track their phones?” Maddie queried.
“Parrish!” Stilinski called out. Parrish popped his head in, waiting for orders, “Can you see to these lovely ladies’ request please?”
“Yes Sheriff” Parrish responded. Lydia and Maddie stood either side of Parrish at his desk. Maddie read out Isaac’s phone number, while Parrish typed it in.
“He called Chris Argent late last night but there’s been no signal since, must be out of battery. Oh gosh, you’re not gonna want to hear where the call was made from” Parrish revealed.
“Tell us, or you’ll feel the sharp edge of my claws on your beautifully chiselled face” Maddie threatened.
“It was made just outside Eichen House” Parrish revealed, with fear in his voice.
“Right, let’s go” Lydia replied. She wasn’t happy about having to return to Eichen, but she’d stop at nothing to save her friends.
“Wait, I’m coming too” Parrish interrupted, “That place is a death trap.”
Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Scott and Melissa waited patiently with the other doctors and nurses. He listened to their heartbeats, and each one was pumping like hard. Even his own heart was beating faster than normal. It was partly adrenaline, he guessed, but he knew he was nervous too. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. Patrolling the outdoor corridor, they slowly crept towards the room. Scott held his finger to his lips, signalling to the others to be as silent as possible. A pin drop could be heard within the room, but when wolf-hearing was involved, the sound of breathing could not be disguised. A shadowed figure appeared at the doorway. The doctors and nurses were petrified, but Scott stood up. His heart began beating faster and faster, as the shadowed figure opened the door. Melissa situated herself in front of the other staff members, protecting them. Scott prepared to fight, but as the door opened fully, he was relieved to see Thomas.
“What are you doing here?” Scott whispered harshly.
“Come on, I’m getting you out” Thomas responded. Scott didn’t think twice, totally forgetting any of his suspicions of Thomas. Scott led the way out of the hospital, and Thomas brought up the rear. As they were on the move, the lights flickered on. Scott smiled, as he knew Stiles had succeeded, and he activated the fire alarm.
Feeling proud of himself, Stiles did a little jump for joy. Momentarily, he’d forgotten the danger of the hospital, and failed to notice a stranger sneaking out the door. However, his attention was alerted when the door clicked shut. Rapidly, Stiles jumped to action, opening the door and checking down the corridor. He saw a figure turn a corner several metres away, much further than any human could’ve run in that period of time. He followed in the same direction, realising it led him to a set of stairs meant only for staff members. Up he went, following the long and tiresome staircase all the way up to the roof. Panting for breath, he reached the top, and heaved open a heavy door that led onto the roof balcony. Facing away from Stiles, a scruffy, tattered figure looked over the town.
“Hello?” Stiles called out. He got no response, and slowly inched closer, “Look, whatever you are, I’ve got some friends who can help.”
“Scott McCall” came a deep voice. It didn’t sound even slightly human, and Stiles was terrified. It turned around, and showed a horribly mutated half-man half-wolf face, with fangs and fur covering it with little symmetry or coherence in its layout.
“Thomas told me he’s here. Take me to him” he continued.
“Thomas...” Stiles thought aloud, “You’re him. You’re Coleman!”
“Careful Stiles, the longer you delay, the less time you’ll have to help the rest of your friends. The ones stuck in Eichen House, the ones on the ground below having escaped” Coleman threatened. Stiles was torn, unsure of what to do, but he was scared either way.
Liam and Casey jogged onto the lacrosse pitch. Crouched into a ball in the centre, just as Liam had expected, was Nolan.
“Nolan!” Liam called out, “We’re here to help.”
“Liam, please do something. I can’t take it” Nolan replied. Liam and Casey perched either side of Nolan, who looked up. His eyes were bright yellow, and his fangs were out.
“I can’t stop shifting, my mind is running all over the place. Please help me” Nolan pleaded with them.
“It’s alright, we’ve got you” Casey helped pick him up. Nolan had one arm over Casey’s shoulders, and assisted him to walk away from the middle of the empty field.
“Liam!” came a loud voice shouting from afar. Liam spun around, and saw Coach yelling towards him, “Why haven’t you been at practice?”
“Sorry Coach, got bigger fish to fry. Looking after my teammates” Liam shouted back. He was pleased to have found Nolan, but now the hard work began – teaching Nolan control.
Creeping into the deserted Eichen House, Lydia, Maddie and Parrish were on red alert for potential attacks. All of a sudden, the group heard a loud ear-piercing roar.
“Malia” Maddie identified, “Coming from downstairs.” They wasted no time in following the sound, and headed downstairs in a hurry. Their motivation ground to a halt however, as they reached a locked door.
“Stand back” Lydia warned, as she let rip an almighty scream, weakening the door for Parrish to kick it down in an instant. In sight now were Malia and an unconscious Isaac. From one barrier to another, however, as Maddie ran slap bang into a mountain ash wall.
“Ow!” she exclaimed, having landed on her backside with a harsh bump. Lydia gave her a hand up, before she glanced over to a despaired Malia. Her eyes alone expressed how fearful for Isaac she was.
“This is my area” Parrish stepped in, as he glowed a fiery red and his clothes burned off his body. Using his intense heat, he pushed against the barrier as if it were a heavy piece of furniture, and managed to destroy it, creating an exit at last. Maddie and Lydia rushed to Isaac’s side, helping him up between them.
“What happened?” Lydia asked Malia.
“Wolfsbane bullet. No idea who locked us here but we came to check it out after the reports of a break in” Malia explained.
“Think it was Thomas?” Maddie added.
“Isn’t he with Argent?” Malia was shocked. However, the explanations came to a halt as they reached the top of the long and exhausting cellar stairs.
“Not so fast” an unfamiliar voice at the top of the stairs threatened. It was a woman in her late 20s, with long auburn wavy hair, holding a gun at the group.
“Who are you?” Parrish asked, wielding his gun back at her.
“Someone who’s doing her duty” she replied, as she fired the gun once again.